The Flash Beginning of The Speedster
by DeChunk
Summary: A re-imagining of the DC Universe starting with Wally West's "The Flash". This chronicles his induction to the Cult of Mercury and the mystery that follows. Please review.
1. Time Marches On

The Flash – Beginning of Infinity

Tick, tock, tick, tock.

Time was limping forward. The bullet of boredom was still lodged in its heel.

Tick, tock, tick, tock.

Wally West's own knee shook up and down in anticipation.

Tick, tock, tick, tock.

This stupid class would end any second now and he would be able to go back to his room and wait out the rest of the afternoon.

Tick, tock, tick… TOCK.

Wally rested his face in his hands and ran them though his red hair. It was taking way too long for this teacher to teach.

TICK… TOCK… **TICK… TOOCK!!**

"Would you be quiet?!" A long silence engulfed the room and Wally picked his head back up to see the whole room staring back at him. Realizing why, he picked up the books he had on his desk and simply left the classroom in embarrassment.

Walking from Broome Hall, Wally's phone gave off the jazzy tune that was immediately recognized as his ringtone. His mother had left him a text: "Rmdr: eating at uncle barry's 2nite". Great. Another night having to look after cousin Bart because the "adults" are too busy.

Finally back in his dorm room, Wally lay down on his bed and closed his eyes as the picture of the ceiling rest in his head.

"Is everything okay?"

Wally picked his head back up. He was at his Uncle Barry's table with his Aunt Iris and four-year-old cousin Bart along with his usual assortment of family.

"Yea. Everything's fine." Lie.

The momentary pause of concern disappeared and the middle aged members of the family began talking about things no sane person should ever have to worry about. Wally sighed as Bart threw half a potato at him.

"You know what? I'm going to head back to KCU."

His mother paused. "Are you sure?"

"Yep. I'm sure." He stood up from the table and picked up his plate and glass to take to the kitchen. "I've just got some homework and other things to do." Lie.

Wally had just scraped the last of the mushrooms into the trash when Uncle Barry entered and leaned against the counter behind him.

"Listen, sorry about Bart. If it'll help, I can put him back in his bed."

"It's okay," Wally replied. "I really do need to get on my classwork."

"Well can I ask you something real quick?"

"What is it?"

"Have you ever heard of Mercury?"

"You mean the planet?"

"No." Uncle Barry took a step and a half toward Wally. "I'm talking about the god."


	2. Can You Feel That?

"God?" Wally asked. "I thought God didn't have a name."

"Roman god," Barry corrected. "He was the messenger of all the heavenly deities, and god of art and trade. Fastest being in creation."

"Okay, now I know. So what?"

Barry put his hand on Wally's left shoulder. "I want you to come with me tomorrow. There's a place where I think you'll find yourself… welcome."

Wally took a pause to bask in the awkwardness that was this moment. "Sure. Why not?" Wally started out the kitchen. "It's not like I've got anything better to do."

Wally opened the door and entered the 9 x 10 ft room he called his own. Well, his own that he shared with another man assigned to him by the Keystone City University admissions group. It wasn't decorated very much. A poster here, a lamp there. It was about as cozy as a cage, to tell the truth. Wally once more fell onto his bed to try and get some sleep.

He couldn't.

This was the 14th time this month Wally had gotten skipped over by the Sandman, and it wasn't doing him any favors. His mind wandered, he was easily irritated, and felt like he constantly needed to move. He finally gave in at 12:32. He got out and locked the door behind him. The halls of his dorm were still busy with small groups of people talking of various things that don't matter, and a few of things that did. The vending machine was working again. He remembered his RA saying something about getting around to it eventually, but he couldn't remember if he ever said when he'd do it. Wally put in his $1.25 and pressed the button for an Orange Elixir™. The button seemed to stick for a bit before it came back out.

No response.

He pressed it again, and it finally read "VEND". There were several slow clacks, each one more annoying and further spaced than the last. He finally heard the "shlunk" of the bottle falling out of the bottom and grabbed it up from the holding pen at the bottom. _I seriously need to stop drinking these and get to bed_, he thought. But, he wasn't exactly going to throw away the dollar twenty five he just spent. He took a gulp.

That's when he noticed the first strange thing: he got no gulp.

The bottle was at the angle usually reserved for sports drink commercials, but still the fluid didn't come out. It couldn't be frozen, the bottle wasn't cold enough. Maybe it was colored plastic. No, then it wouldn't weigh so much. Confused, and thirsty, he used the useless container to try and make a three-point shot for the trash can in the corner.

That's when the second strange thing occurred: once the bottle left his hands, it didn't really move.

It sort of hovered with a purpose. Like it was ready to go up against Bruce Lee in the hall of mirrors. Wally walked around the floating bottle of Orange Elixir™ and pondered the predicament he had stumbled into. It spun a bit and drifted toward the receptacle. He poked it. It began to spin in the direction of the poke.

"This… is me going mad." He told himself. Wally stared at the bottle once more and it slowly sped up towards its destination, until finally it hit the edge of the trash can and close to exploded all over the lobby. Shaken, he picked up the plastic container filled with orangey goodness and took his rightfully earned gulp.

Totally worth the insanity.

Wally exited the lobby to his room and for the third time today, lay in his bed trying to figure out a way to turn the world around him into a blank void.


	3. Coffee

Wally woke up. He actually woke up. That meant he had been sleeping the night before. The whole incident in the lobby could have just been a dream. Wally was excited at the prospect, but not all too happy that morning. See, while sleeping wasn't one of his best activities, waking up was even lower on the list. The simple act of walking in a straight line for mere seconds was a trying task. And then he fell over. On his face. Wally could hear his roommate laughing behind him, but he paid the man no mind. It was too early to deal with things and he needed some sort of super-caffeinated drink to make the gears in his head start spinning. And pants. He needed to put on pants, so he grabbed the nearest flannels and walked out into the hall.

Wally was lucky enough to be on the one floor in the building with an RA as terrible with the sun's rise as he was, and that meant a coffee machine in the lobby. Piece of junk, but coffee's coffee. Wally grabbed a paper cup and the pot and poured himself a cup. Once again though, nothing came out. Wally thought that had only been a bad dream the night before, but just to check he let go of the pot to see if it would behave in the same way.

Instead, it fell to the ground.

The pot was empty, which he realized he should have checked first before jumping to conclusions of supernatural phenomena. Wally picked back up the coffee pot and began setting up the machine to make a fresh batch.

"No sleep again?"

The voice came from a girl he had seen before, but couldn't remember her name for the life of him. She had short black hair and purple lipstick to mach her violet eye shadow. Both looked a bit smudged and faded from the night before. She was wearing some sort of poncho or something like that with all these flowery patterns in various warm colors, and that includes brown. Probably just threw it on so she'd have something to wear. He had talked to her on several occasions, but he could never remember her name at any point.

Wally touched his nose as to signify he understood her and went back to preparing the Columbian water.

"Sucks." She walked closer to him. "You need some warm milk or something."

"Nah, I don't take cream." The filter was no good, so he searched for another one in the drawers around him.

"I meant for your sleep troubles, not the coffee."

"Ah." He still couldn't find the coffee filters. Wally began rechecking drawers.

"Are we out of joe?"

"Yea. Hey, where are the filters?"

The girl rolled her eyes and picked up a plastic bag of neatly stacked coffee filters that had been sitting right next to the coffee machine. Wally immediately felt like an idiot and grabbed the bag.

"It's early." That was a standing excuse with Wally.

"I know." The girl smiled as she said it.

Wally grabbed the coffee beans and poured a liberal amount into the top. After he clicked the filter and coffee beans back in, he smiled and pressed the power button. Nothing happened. He hit it again. Still nothing.

"Power would be a good idea, wouldn't it?"

At night it had to be unplugged so that there was no way it could cause a fire. As Wally was the first one to use it, the obvious answer was that it was still unplugged. Which meant pressing a button a million times wasn't going to help anything.

"Do you need a nanny today?"

Wally glared at her. "I just need coffee." He then plugged in the machine.

"Hm. Needing coffee to make coffee," she replied. "How circular of you."

"Always considered myself a well-rounded person."

"See!" The girl slapped him in the center of his chest. "You can think in the morning."

"That… was a fluke." Wally was about to press the button when he remembered that there was one more thing that could go wrong. He made sure there was water in the back of it. Of course there wasn't, and he missed another conversational landmine.

"So the monkey does learn." Turns out that it was a time bomb and not a landmine.

"Do you have to bug me right now?"

She turned around and sat on the counter. "Is there anything better to do?"

Wally thought for a second. "What time is it?"

She looked down at her non-existent watch and then pointed at the clock that read 11:27.

"I don't need you to gesture to me sarcastically."

"Then what do you need me to do?" She slid closer to Wally and stroked his chin with a single finger.

"I need you…" He drew his face closer to hers, feeling her breath on his lips. "To tell me when the coffee's ready." Wally completed his fake out by quickly moving away and walking back to his room.

She gave a hearty chuckle. "Yes, Master Wallace."

"And I expect there to still be some left when I get back."

Wally entered his room to find his roommate missing and a shirt with the words "Dwayne Got The Bitches" covering the tv. He removed the shirt and turned on the television. No sooner did the picture come on screen than his phone ring. Out of pure habit, he answered.

"Hello?"

"Hey, sport." Uncle Barry. "I was wondering when you were free today."

"Huh?"

"For the thing I wanted to show you."

There was a pause as Wally recollected the events of the previous night. "Oh, yea. God and what not."

"Not God, a-" There was a sigh on the other line. "Never mind. When will you have time today?"

"Well, I've got no plans, so whenever's fine."

"Good!" That annoying upbeat tone was back in his voice. "I'll come by at 1."

Wally rubbed his eyes. "Sure. Fine. 1. Bye."

Uncle Barry said a couple more words, but Wally hung up before he could understand them. The tv had a rerun of some daytime soap that only lonely old ladies and Shane and Ashleigh from down the hall watched. Wally searched for the remote when there was a knock on the door. Out of pure habit, he answered.

"Hey Wally." It was Shane, a twiggy blonde kid that would probably be really popular if he wasn't such a wuss all the time. "I was wondering if you guys still had that DVD I lent you."

Wally knew exactly what he was talking about and grabbed the case off his conveniently close desk and handed it to Shane.

"Thanks."

"No problem." Wally decided to see how everything was going in the lobby.

There she was still sitting there, but she had pulled an old Gameboy out of somewhere and was playing something intently. Until he came in, that is. At that moment, she hit a button, hopped off and got down on a knee and a fist.

"What is thy bidding, my master?"

Getting the joke, Wally replied, "Find Luke Skywalker and make me a cup of Joe."

"That first one might be a bit harder than once thought. How about just the Joe?"

"That is acceptable." They shared a dramatic glare and then both laughed.

"Well it's only been five minutes so you'll have to wait."

"Then I shall." Wally took a seat in the burgundy chair nearest him and leaned back. "What was that you were playing?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Just curious."

"Sonic."

Wally turned around. "On a Gameboy?!"

"Game_gear_," she replied. "The Sega Gameboy."

"Oh." Wally turned back around. "Didn't know they had that."

"Yeah, so did the rest of the world." She returned to her game and they both toiled in the necessary lingering until a small ding came from the only thing in the room that could.

"Coffee's done," Wally announced.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious." She poured him the cup and handed it to him with a shake in her step. "You know I'm getting you back for this, right?"

Wally took a sip and its warmth and invigoration touched his body to its core. "I wouldn't expect any less from you." He got up from the chair. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a beverage to enjoy."

He walked away from the lobby for the third time in twelve hours when he heard a voice from behind him. "And don't worry. I never did tell you my name."


	4. Going Down

Wally sat back on his bed and slowly sipped the hot black beverage he had prepared. It was strong. Really strong. Like Doc Samson strong. It only took a few of those slow sips to have him ready for the day, but he kept on going because it would be a shame to waste such a rare treat. Wired and ready to go, he lazed about his room and looked up random youtube videos in wait for Uncle Barry's "secret surprise". Ugh. That did not sound like a good day to him. Uncle Barry was a good guy and all, but at times his positive outlook and plastered on smile got to him.

One O'Clock.

Wally's phone rang and once more it was Uncle Barry on the other side.

"Hello?"

"Hey, sport. Just wondering where I should pick you up."

"Uh…" Wally didn't think about this but there weren't many choices, so it was all good. "Just ride up to my dorm. I'll wait outside."

"Okay." He could tell Uncle Barry had that fake smile back on. "See you in five minutes."

Wally hung up just as his roommate reentered the area. "I'm going to be out for who knows how long, so lock up when you leave, okay?" The roommate nodded his head and hopped on his computer. "Good boy."

Wally took the elevator down to the first floor and gave a heavy sigh as the stainless steel metal surrounding him gleamed back with reckless abandon.

"Where you off to?"

Wally turned in surprise to find he was standing next to a short Asian girl with crayon red hair that was clearly dyed. Her clothes screamed eccentric with all sorts of frills and lace and buckles and leather. This was Ashleigh.

"Nowhere, really."

"Ah." She turned back to face the doors. "Did you give Shane back-"

"His DVD?" Wally interrupted and turned to face her. "Yea," he said as he turned back. "Came to collect this morning."

"Oh. That's good." The two of them spoke not another word to each other until the doors opened back up. Unfortunately it was not their floor and the person had seemed to decide to take the stairs instead. Both lowered their heads as the doors once again closed.

"Your show was on earlier." Wally finally said.

"Huh?"

"That one you and Shane watch. Something to do with that cancer patient and his twin and everything."

"Oh!" Ashleigh was excited to hear about it. "I didn't know 'Road of Life' aired on Thursdays. What happened? Did Jason finally talk with Courtney? Did Jennifer's-"

"I didn't watch it. It was just on." Ashleigh returned to her former position. "I thought you might want to know an episode aired, that's all."

The elevator finally stopped and both passengers left the lift. Ashleigh looked like she wanted to say something, but Wally really wasn't in the mood to prolong the inevitable.

Bleep, bloop, bleep bloop.

Wally didn't even know why he wore a watch. It only made him more impatient with the world around him and their arbitrary schedules.

Bleep, bloop, BLEEP, BLOOP.

Where was he?! Uncle Barry said he'd be in front of the building soon. Soon came and went and he still wasn't there. Wally was about to lose his mind when the friendliest car horn woke him out of his stupor.

"Hey, sport!"

Uncle Barry had arrived.

Wally hopped in the minivan and Uncle Barry drove off out of the campus. Everything was average enough for the car of Mr. Suburb. There was change in about every crevasse and dog hair all over the seats. A sticky stain on one of the mid seats looked like lollipop mixture and soda. Bart's toys were strewn across the rest of the car. The music was some psychedelic band and it really felt out of place in the Standard Issue Dad Vehicle.

"So where are we going?"

"You know what? I've told you a few times, and I'm not telling you again. You're just going to have to see."

"Fine."

Wally looked out the window at the fields of corn and wheat and let the music envelop his mind. The sky shifted patterns and fell into waves of blue and green with spots of orange helping it out. Crazy music.

"We're here."

The van stopped at what looked like a giant warehouse for wheat and grain storage. It was gray and cracked. Very gray. As if it came out of an old movie.

"And what's 'here'?"

Uncle Barry got out of the car. His smile was finally gone from his face and he almost looked normal. "Just get out of the van and follow me."

Wally did as he was told and followed Barry into the decrepit warehouse. The inside was no different from the outside. Completely empty though. Well, there were some old machines and a big hanging switch, but that was it. No workers. No crop. Not even dust. Wally walked around for a bit and threw his arms out to his sides.

"So this is what you wanted to show me?"

"Not quite. Come and stand here."

Wally walked over to his Uncle Barry, who was now holding that hanging switch. When Wally was finally in range, Barry pressed a couple buttons and the floor beneath them began to descend.

"Phantom of the Opera, eh?"

"Oh, be quiet. I'm trying to do you a favor."

Uncle Barry's attitude shocked Wally. He didn't speak again as the elevator went down. When the wall before them finally stopped, a strange world stood before the young collegian. There was what looked like a forum filled with people in red clothing with golden bands around their waists and golden boots upon their feet. Documents filled with printing were in every corner and the men in red were furiously reading them to each other, as if to search for an answer to a much larger question.

"Where did you take me?"

Barry ignored him and walked to the other side of the forum. A couple of the people stopped their chanting to greet him and with what seemed like the first genuine smile he had seen on his uncle's face, Barry greeted them back. Wally started after his uncle, but a man with a large silver wok on his head came up to him from proceeding by putting his palm to the young man's chest.

"You must be Barry's kid."

"His nephew, yea." Wally removed the new stranger's hand from his sternum. "Where exactly are we right now?"

The man looked over at where Barry was and gave a slight glare, then turned back to the boy and said, "Welcome to the Temple of the Cult of Mercury."


	5. The Tour

"Cult?!" Wally stood angry and confused. "He never said anything about a cult!" Wally's arms flung wildly around him as he staggered back towards the elevator. It had already risen.

The man with the dish for a hat shook his head. "We're not that kind of cult. There's no punch or aliens involved."

Wally looked at the scarlet monks holding large books. "You've got creepy guys in cloaks. In my book, that counts."

The man shook his head in disappointment. "Barry was supposed to brief you on this before taking you here." He put his hand on Wally's back to guide him through the temple. "As I said before, we are The Cult of Mercury." He paused. "You know who Mercury is, right?"

Wally tried to remember dinner at the Allens' house. "He's that god, right?"

"Glad he told you something. Yes, he's a Roman god. Messenger and by extension, keeper of the tomes."

"Okay, before you go into all this crazy cult stuff, who the hell are you?"

"My name is Jay Garrick, and I'm one of the Scholars."

Wally turned to Garrick. "A scholar? Like a student?"

Garrick was quickly offended. "No, not a student. I read over the writings and try to deduce what they mean in context of where we are now." He carried on the walk.

Wally was quite confused. "Doesn't a set of words mean the same thing every time?"

"No," Garrick replied plainly. "It's the same reason 'Call me' means different things to different people."

Wally chuckled. "I've been there." Garrick gave him a look and Wally shut up with his head hung low.

"Back to what I was trying to say earlier. I am a Scholar, one of the four pillars of our Cult. The other three are the Acolytes, the Searchers, and the High Ones."

"Acolyte?" Wally injected. "I thought that was just for Christianity."

Garrick gave him a smug smirk. "Where do you think they got it from? Christianity is filled with-"

"Ugh," Wally threw his head back. "Just get on with this Cult thing. I was actually getting interested."

"Fine." Garrick scowled and continued to lead Wally down the hall. "How did you know what an Acolyte was in the first place?"

"I'm on Wikipedia a lot. Came up. Clicked on it. Rinse, repeat, and that's how I learned pretty much everything I know."

Garrick rolled his eyes. "You live a sad existence. Hopefully we'll change that."

Wally shook his head in disbelief. "So where are we going anyway?"

"To the library."

"Library?!"

"Do you have a problem with that?"

"Why do we have a library and why do I have to go there?"

"So that you can get a proper knowledge of your history here and meet some of the more important members of our organization."

"Whoa whoa whoa." Wally stopped dead in his tracks. "I never said I wanted to be a part of this whole…" Wally waved his arms in the air. "…thing yet. I'm grateful that you've considered me, and I'm amazed that you're able to keep that flying saucer on your head, but I really don't need this extra bullshit."

"Then why have you followed me?"

"Because I thought I'd get like a free meal out of it or something." Wally knew this wasn't the best reason to come up with. "And I had nothing to do." Even worse. "Why am I even being dragged into this?"

Garrick looked at the young boy with a stern expression. "Listen, your uncle must have seen it on you, as do I. The touch of Mercury."

Wally didn't believe a word of it. "Touch of Mercury? Sounds more like being poisoned."

"It lets us know who has the potential to interact with the Speed Force."

"And let me guess, I've been touched more than everyone else?"

Garrick gave Wally a bemused look that suggested he got the joke. "No. Your glow's a little under average, but you've still been touched." He took a step towards the college boy. "Now either one of two things are going to happen. One-" he held up a finger. "You leave and the touch destabilizes you slowly over the course of years leading you towards insanity and physical uselessness." Wally didn't like that option. "Two-" he held up a second finger. "You follow me and proceed with an initiation, during which you will become at peace with your potential and follow on to lead a life of purpose." The whole thing was delivered with a sense of importance and familiar frustration. "And don't think you're the only one I've told this to."

Wally stood in place almost afraid to think. "I'll take door number two."

"Wise choice." Garrick resumed his walk.

The two came to a large pair of doors that Wally assumed led to the room of books and papers he'd have to suffer through. He was right. It was a gloriously large room filled with shelves forty feet tall and made of a stone that was like dull, pale gold. Despite the towering size of the bookcases, there was not a ladder to be found. There was a staircase on either side leading to an upper level with similar, yet smaller shelves. Every book looked as if it had been delicately placed there as to achieve the maximum aura of importance. The whole room was lit from what seemed to be a skylight, but Wally had a feeling they were far too deep into the Earth's crust for this to be real. Many others with plates on their heads walked along the ground with books in hand diligently reading something that must have been important. Some were even stationed at podiums reading the books aloud. Garrick led Wally over to a vacant podium.

"Welcome to the archives."

"I thought you said this was a library."

"It is. It's also the archives. Now be quiet and prepare to be amazed."

"By what?"

"Something every little boy and drunken frat boy dreams of."

Garrick slapped the top of the podium twice and waited with his arms held behind his back. A moment passed and just as Wally opened his mouth to say something along the lines of, "I'm sure your boyfriend appreciates the silence, but I will have to differ," a large ape fell from above them and made a perfect landing in front of the duo.

"Hello, Roderick," Garrick greeted the monkey.

"Dude, you guys have monkey butlers?!" Wally was very excited about this revelation. "Why didn't you say so before?"

"Because we wish not to be demeaned by people of your stature immediately."

Wally couldn't believe it. Those words. The deep, yet intelligent bravado of his voice was enough to make Morgan Freedman jealous, but it came from him.

"The monkey can talk!?!" Wally had entered that realm some cross over into when they see a kitten with a yarn ball much too big for it.

Roderick sighed and shook his head. "What is it, Jason?"

"I'm just showing the boy around." Garrick's voice had a soothing smugness to it.

"Did I have to be part of the tour?"

"If you weren't, he probably would have passed us over."

"What makes you so sure?"

Garrick pointed over at the rabid fanboy next to him. Wally was unmoving as he frothed at the mouth and his eyes widened until they were as large as dinner plates.

Roderick's shoulders fell as the human race had let him down once more. "Point taken. So can I leave now, or is there something I can get you?"

"Well, I would appreciate it if you would be the kid's-"

And before Garrick could even finish, Roderick interrupted with, "Nope, no, uh-uh, no way. I am not taking on some ginger newbie. My plate's full as it is."

"Oh, please. You haven't been Professor to an Acolyte since my induction."

He had a point. Roderick conceded, "Fine. I guess after you, I'll be able to take on everything. So when's his initiation?"

Garrick paused. "There's been no set date yet."

Roderick was unenthused. "Go talk to the Prophet and get him an initiation date so we can get this whole thing over with." He turned away from the two. "In the mean time, I'll be on my way to the arboretum." And with that the large ape climbed the bookshelves and Tarzaned his way past Wally's line of sight.

The first words Wally said were, "Please say there are more of those."

"There are more of those," Garrick responded with a smirk on his face. It was always amusing to see new recruits flip out over everything. "Now, as the monkey butler suggested, let's take you to the Prophet."

Wally shook himself from his stupor. "Wait, who's the Prophet?"

Garrick said the next phrase like he had memorized it and said it exactly one thousand times, after which he'd get some sort of meaningless award: "The Prophet is the only member of the Cult who may communicate with Mercury himself. His word is to be taken as the word of the gods themselves."

"And I thought you were all up for mocking Christianity."

Garrick became offended. "I'm not the one who chooses it to be like this. He picks one member of the Cult to voice his opinion and we follow his word as doctrine."

"Then what's to stop one from merely claiming that he's the Prophet?"

"Remember that 'touch of Mercury' thing I spoke of earlier?" Wally hadn't, but nodded to follow along. "Well, the Prophet's touch is a purple hue, where as a potential inductee has a crimson aura and a formally introduced member has a golden touch."

Wally sighed. "I guess you guys have a better system than we do then." Wally changed his tone, so as to direct the conversation away from his recent pwn'age. "Now, take me to your leader."

Garrick rolled his eyes and walked through the archives to a much smaller door. It was gilded with a metallic deep red color and had many designs that were intricate to say the least, but seemed to serve no other purpose. Wally and Garrick walked through the door and down a long hallway with many windows lighting the way similarly to the archive room. Finally, a second door was reached and with a simple knock, a slot at the average man's eye height opened up. A set of eyes were visible in the empty slot.

"What's the password?"

Garrick held his chin for a few moments and then calmly suggested, "Swordfish?"

"Very funny, Jay. Now seriously, what's the password?"

"We don't have one."

The slot was closed and the door was opened.

"That's the password? 'We don't have one'?" Wally protested.

"No," replied Garrick. "As long as you mention that there is no password, you're let in. Think about it, if someone asks you for a password, your mind will automatically jump to trying to figure out what it might be. No one would think that the guard would be asking for something that doesn't exist."

"Like a shoehorn with teeth."

Garrick turned to the boy. "What?"

"Never mind. It's esoteric."

The two continued towards a man in a yellow robe underneath a skylight set perfectly over him as to obscure his face. He sat at a stone desk complete with a name plate that was flipped so that it faced only the Prophet himself.

"Mr. Garrick. What is it that you seek?"

Garrick took a step forward. "Mr. Allen's nephew has shown he has been touched." Wally giggled a bit. "As we both know Mr. Allen is a bit busier than usual at the moment, I have come forth to submit a possible induction for the boy."

The Prophet leaned forward. "And what is the boy's name?"

"It's…" Garrick paused. He leaned to Wally and whispered, "What's your name again?"

Wally stepped forward to say it himself. "My name is Wally West."

The Prophet leaned back, somehow relieved. "Does Mr. West have a Professor?"

"Yes," replied Garrick. "I proposed it to Roderick, and he has accepted."

"Roderick?" the Prophet asked. "An interesting choice, Mr. Garrick." The Prophet paused. "The boy may have his parade. Three days from today, he shall have his induction. Now leave."

Garrick bowed. "Thank you, Prophet." He gestured for Wally to bow as well, which surprisingly enough he did. He then took Wally back through the door and back down the hall.

The two of them walked in silence for quite some time until Wally chimed in. "Why did you thank him if he didn't really have a choice in the matter?"

"Because he's the Prophet, and he doesn't always say yes."

"But if he turned me away, I'd end up-" And that's when Wally realized it. "You lied to me."

Garrick shrugged. "If I hadn't, you wouldn't have seen the monkey."

Wally gave this a quick thought and decided that even though it was a quite heinous action, the pay off was worth it.

Garrick led the boy back through the temple and back to the forum at the entrance. Uncle Barry was talking with another one of the Scholars about something when he turned back to Garrick and Wally.

"So does he have a date?" Barry asked.

"Three days from today," Garrick replied.

Barry's fake smile returned. "Good for you, sport. I hope you'll be happy here." He turned to one of the other cloaked figures. "Hey, John," Barry called out. "Me and Wally are ready to head back out." The man nodded and pulled a lever. The elevator came down with a thump and seemed like a much smaller platform now. "Come on, Wally. Time to head back out into the real world."

Wally hopped aboard the concrete slab and turned back to face his tour guide. "See ya in three days."

Garrick gave a small laugh. "En tres dias."

The two had a chuckle until the whole complex was out of view. The platform finally raised to the top and the two men stepped off.

"So, you like it so far?"

"It's…" Wally began. "Interesting to say the least."

Barry had his plastered on smile back up and they both walked to the minivan, neither mentioning any part of it for the duration of the trip.


	6. Crisis

Wally took a nap in the van as Uncle Barry drove him back to University. It had been a long day into night with secret societies, lots of cloaks and togas, and even a talking gorilla to top it all off. Cool stuff. Of course, it was a given he couldn't tell anyone about this. First off, they'd think he was crazy, and second on the list, no one knew of them before, so there must have been some sort of non-disclosure agreement he missed. So, keep his trap shut and everything would probably be for the better.

Wally woke up to Barry's fake smile and a gentle shaking. "Okay, sport," he said to the red head in his passenger's seat. "I'll pick you up tomorrow at around the same time."

"I thought my initiation was in three days."

"The initiation is in three days, but there's a little bit of preparation you need to do with your Professor."

"Like what? Getting sized up for a robe?" Wally said with sarcasm dripping from his lips.

"Actually, yes." Wally held a confused and scared look on his face. "As well as memorizing a short ceremonial prayer."

There was a pause.

"You're serious?"

"It's a secret society. Did you think there'd be no effort at all involved with entering?"

"Well, yea actually. The way Garrick took me around the temple, I thought I would just have to show up every once in a while and get to make movies of talking monkeys."

"You weren't thinking of telling anyone about this, were you?" Uncle Barry replied with a stern seriousness.

"Well, talking gorillas." Wally made a gesture that could be translated to "all this land" or "what else would I do?"

"Wally, there's a reason you haven't heard of us before." Uncle Barry had a stern tone in his voice as if to suggest a final straw was about to break. "We act in private to protect society as a whole and make sure that history always has a true place to reside. And we aren't the only ones. You've heard of Atlantis? Amazons? The Gates of Hell themselves?" Wally nodded his head. "All real, but untraceable." Uncle Barry gave an ever so slight sigh and continued. "The world is a good place and we need to make sure that it stays that way." He sat upright in his seat once more. "A balance is needed in the world, and we provide the scale on which to properly achieve that balance."

Wally was scared. "Then what's with all of the 'Messenger of the Gods' stuff, and fastest thing in all creation rhetoric if all we do is act as judges of mankind?"

Uncle Barry took a slight pause. "So no one can run away."

Wally got out of the van and did not look behind him. This had quickly gone from awesome to creepy as all hell. He opened the door and hopped into the elevator, sliding his ID card to get back up to his room. He needed to pack. Everything. He needed to get away and make sure these creepy people in robes never got a hold of him.

Though there was an aspect of power that no man in their right mind would find unattractive. Judging the world? Punishing fools who were only dragging humanity down and all that made Wally start a deranged smile. He quickly caught himself and shook his head in an attempt to bring himself to reality.

First priority: pack everything and get away.

He entered his room to find his roommate laying in a compromising position on his bed facing the tv with a girl that looked quite out of it. This startled the roommate. "What chu crazy?" he shouted.

Wally threw his hand up to suggest some sort of mistake had been made. "Sorry dude, didn't know." He exited the room and closed the door. Nothing on the handle. Bastard didn't even give him a sign. Knowing the roomie in question, he'd have to wait a good hour before he'd be able to leave. Time to head to the lobby.

Shane and Ashleigh were sitting really close to each other watching some terrible sounding movie with zombies. That girl whose name was never given was there sitting in a chair with that Game Gear thing again. This time there was no poncho. Instead she wore a t-shirt and leather jacket complete with a knee length skirt and high stockings. The black and purple make up matched the color scheme of her outfit this time. What really caught his attention though was the necklace she wore. The silver chain held onto a large silver ankh that rested contently on where her cleavage would have been had she decided to do something a bit more risqué wither outfit.

"Hey there, Wally," she said without looking up from her game. "Everything alright?"

"Yea, I'm… good." He rubbed the back of his head and sat on a chair facing the goth girl.

Still not looking up, she responded, "Don't sound good. Sound freaked."

Wally was astounded at the level of perception this girl had. "Kinda. It's hard to explain."

She finally paused her game and looked at Wally's face. "It's not hard to explain. You just don't want to." She got up and sat next to the scared young man. "I can see it in your eyes. You know exactly what's happening and could tell the world all sorts of things you've seen, but you think you'd be locked up for it." Wally was even more confused than before. "I like ghosts. I've seen people who think they saw ghosts, and that's the kind of expression you have."

"I didn't see a ghost."

"You saw something, and it disturbed you."

"It wasn't what I saw, it was the explanation." There was a pause as Wally realized what he was saying and she was listening intently for more. "I told you I'm a forensics major, right?"

"On a few occasions."

"Well, my Uncle Barry's the one who got me into it. It was that combination of science and mystery that took me in. Finding the bad guy not because you pounded in the faces of his minions, but by researching and finding out through hard fact that a man killed a woman and bringing him to justice."

"Very Arthur Conan Doyle of you."

Wally shook his head. "Yea, well good ole' Uncle Barry took me to his lab in the city and showed me around. There were lots of cool things and interesting people there and I got really into doing all this work someday, but it's what he said on the ride home that got to me. I asked if there was any way someone could be wrongly convicted, if that one in three hundred chance would ever happen and there was coincidental evidence. He replied with a variation on 'We are the law. There is nothing above us.'" After that, Wally's head dropped to about chest height and not a peep came out of him.

She scootched in closer to the distraught red-head and clasped his right hand between both of hers. "Listen, the system is flawed, yes, and there are those who use it to their own will and believe in the divine righteousness of their actions, but then there are people like you. People who know that punishment is for those that deserve it and nothing more. People who can empathize with every party and make the right choice." She brought Wally's hand up to her face as to get his attention on her eyes and not at the floor where his self doubt had collected itself. "You're a good guy. For all the little squabbles we get into, you've always been fair. And hey, the best way to dismantle the system is from the inside, am I right?"

"Not if it collapses on you."

"Well then I wouldn't have to deal with your whining, now would I?" The two gave a light chuckle at this return to the status quo. "Come on, give me a hug." Wally obliged. "Don't go anywhere, okay? It's no fun around here when you're gone."

Wally looked up slowly from this. "How did you know I was leaving?"

She was taken aback by this, but quickly recovered. "I figured with that whole 'final crisis' you were going to drop out."

Wally sighed in his mind. "And miss the Dickensian romance between the turtledoves over there?" He pointed to Shane who was at that moment attempting to pull the yawn-to-embrace move on Ashleigh, but chickened out at the last minute. "No way." This made the girl smile. The two sat close to each other for a few moments, both of their eyes switching between the terrible zombie flick and the awkward romance in front of them. Wally then had a thought. "You know, I need to call you something."

She gave him a strange look. "As long as it's not 'bitch', I'm good with whatever." She thought for a moment. "Although if it's 'sexy bitch' I'd be willing to go by that."

"What about your name?"

She shifted away from him a bit. "I don't know. I kind of like it better this way. Not knowing what my real name is. It has this romantic anonymity to it."

"Um, alright, I guess." Wally thought of all the different things he could call her. He needed something he could remember with ease, something that fit her so well, there would be no way to forget it. He found it in: "Morrigan."

"The name of an old flame?"

"The Celtic goddess of sex and violence."

"Aaaooohh. Pretty clever there." Morrigan swiped her index finger across the tip of his nose. "Now, You can't have all the fun. I need a nickname for you."

"Do you, now?"

"Yes," she responded. "It's only fair." She leaned back and stroked her chin for effect. "Flash Gordon."

"A comic serial character?"

"An ordinary man fighting for justice in an extraordinary place." She said it with a dramatic conviction reserved for middle school performances of Shakespeare. "Seemed fitting as well."

Wally gave a laugh. "So it does. So it does."

The two leaned back and once again watched the two stories unfold before them. One of fantastic deaths and survival and another of a pot just waiting to boil, if only it knew it was hung over a fire.


	7. Brand New Day

The next morning, Wally's things were still in his room, not packed, not in bags, still in the same drawers they had been the day previous. He was going to do it. He was going to join the Cult, and eventually clean out the mentality that his own uncle had expressed earlier.

Wally picked up the phone and dialed good ole' Uncle Barry.

"Hello?" The voice was not the usual upbeat Wally was accustomed to.

"Hey, it's Wally-"

"Oh, hey!" There it was. "What's going on?"

"I was wondering when we'd be heading to the temple for my preparation." There was a pause on the phone.

"I can pick you up whenever you'd want."

"Why not now?" Wally was eager to get this over with and start fixing this "balance" he was told of.

"Oh, uh, alright. I'll be there as soon as I can, sport." He was shaken.

Good.

Wally said, "Thanks," and hung up. It would take a half hour or so for him to get there, so Wally had to make sure he was focused.

"You know, I think I remember someone calling it the devil's other water," Morrigan told Wally as he approached the coffee machine. She was sitting on the counter again, now wearing a purple t-shirt with black cargo pants and bunny slippers. That ankh from the other day was still around her neck, still shining as brightly as ever.

"I'm actually kind of pumped for today, so I only need it a little bit." He reached for the pot, but stopped to check it first. "Was it empty when you got here?"

"Nope." She smiled and swung her legs back and forth. "I did that just for you."

Wally rolled his eyes and began preparing a new batch. "Thank you… so much." Remembering the day before, he checked the filter. Shot. Spare ones still right next to the coffee maker. "Because I enjoy fumbling through this process every morning."

"You've got it right so far." Morrigan put her hands behind her head and leaned back against the wall.

Coffee beans next. "Only because of my newfound conviction."

"So our little talk worked?"

Wally checked to see if the cord was plugged in. Nope. "Not only did it work, but I've got a plan."

Morrigan hopped off the surface. "Oooo. Me likey." She took a quick step towards the young man. "Do tell."

And with that, Wally was ready for some joe. "Not yet. Wouldn't want to ruin the surprise."

"You little tease." She punched Wally in the shoulder. "You're at least going to give me the play by play, right?"

"Oh yea." Button pressed. Coffee not dispensing. Wally pushed the button a few times.

"What's wrong?"

"It's not working and I can't figure out why." After another press or two he finally gave in. "Alright, what did I forget this time?"

Morrigan shrugged. "I'm pretty sure you did everything necessary."

"Necessary for what?" The voice came from the small Asian dress-up doll known formally as Ashleigh. She was now wearing a wide brimmed sun hat and a floral print dress to match. There was a black watch on her right wrist and a wicker basket in her left arm.

"You really go all out with those costumes, don't you?"

Morrigan backhanded Wally in the face. "Hush. We're trying to figure out what's wrong with the coffee machine."

"Hmmmm." Ashleigh put down her basket and walked over to the duo. "The beans are fresh, right?"

"Yep," Wally replied.

"It's plugged in?"

"Of course."

"And it has water?"

"Why wouldn't-" Wally hadn't checked that yet. He heard the click-clack of the container behind him.

"Thanks, Ashleigh." Morrigan gave a snicker at the proud red-head next to her. "We would have probably looked over that for quite some time."

The small one walked back over and picked up her basket. "It's no problem. Happy to solve all of life's little problems." She then gave a smile that was so sweet, Wally swore he had contracted Type Two Diabetes .

Wally rubbed the back of his head. "Yea, thanks."

That's when Shane came barreling down the hallway. "Hey have any of you seen-" And then he stopped in his tracks. "Hey there, Ash."

Ashleigh averted her eyes, blushed and started digging her right foot into the floor. "Hi, Shane."

Wally's eyes were half open when this point. "It's too early for this."

"When is the coffee going to be ready?" Morrigan asked.

"Not soon enough."

Morrigan wiped her face with both hands, making sure to stretch underneath the eyes and pull the lips down. "I second that."

The two of them watched the uninteresting tango these two twits were doing for a bit before Wally asked something. "Can I play that Gear thing you had?"

Morrigan checked her pockets. "I think it's back in my room, I'll go get it."

And just as she had gotten out of eyesight, Wally's cell rang. "Hey sport." Had it already been 30 minutes? "I'm outside your dorm, and I can't see you."

"Sorry, Uncle Barry, I'm still up here. Lost track of time and whatnot. I'll be right down." Wally started down the hallway, but then gave himself a quick reminder and hopped back. "Shane?" He looked away from his china doll. "Could you tell Morrigan that I had to go?"

"Who's Morrigan?"

"Kind of gothy chick, cute, but punky, was with me just now?"

"Oh her, yea, I'll let her know."

"Thanks."

And with that, Wally went downstairs and out to his Uncle's car.

It was going to be one hell of a day.


	8. First Steps

"So," said Uncle Barry after a long stretch of silence between the two of them had gotten too uncomfortable for even him, "you ready for your first day?" They were standing outside the warehouse under which The Cult lay.

"Ready as I'll ever be," replied Wally.

Uncle Barry grin his creepy grin and took him down into the Church of Catacombs, where Mr. Garrick waited to greet them.

"Ah, good to see you again." He was still wearing that ridiculous hat, but so many other things were out of whack here, that there was no reason to really complain about it. "I hope you aren't too used to your shoes."

"Eh?"

"Your shoes," repeated Garrick. "You won't be needing them today."

"Why not-"

"Just give it up," Uncle Barry said in that distanced tone that while agitating was more comfortable than hearing "old sport" every other sentence. "Now give Jay your shoes and let's move on."

Wally begrudgingly removed his white sneakers and handed them to his new mentor.

"And the socks," Uncle Barry added.

"The socks too?"

"Unfortunately, yes." Garrick held out his left hand to take the last bit of protection away from Wally's feet. He obliged and Garrick gave the footwear to an associate nearby who disappeared down a hallway. "Right then," Garrick said as he clapped his hands together, "now follow me." Garrick turned around and walked him down a familiar path.

Wally obeyed. "Is there a reason for this?"

"There's a reason for everything."

It was then Wally realized where they were headed. "Wait… Monkeys!"

Garrick's head dropped at the juvenility of the previous statement. "Yes, Wally, we're going to see the monkeys. Only they aren't monkeys, they're gorillas."

"Same difference." Wally got excited to see these wondrous creatures again, and started jogging off ahead, when he realized that without his shoes, the floor seemed to hurt more, and required him to grab his right foot, which only made the pain in his left foot worse, due to the hopping around and-

"You can worry about your feet later, Roderick is waiting for us."

Wally grit his teeth and took the pain as Garrick opened up the doors to the library, and it was as stunning as before. The mentor approached the same podium as last time, and with two pounds and a short wait, the giant talking gorilla was upon them.

"I assume you're ready to relinquish the boy?" Garrick nodded. "And you have his footwear?" Garrick showed Roderick the shoes and socks he had taken from the boy. "Good, good good. Now," he turned to Wally, "We must begin the enknowledging."

Wally's left eyebrow crept up into his forehead to create a look of confusion. "The what?"

"Enknowledging." Roderick took a second as if Wally would understand this word that sounded entirely made up. "It's a fancy way of saying I'm going to teach you things, but there's more to it."

"Learning?" Wally gave out a whiney grunt. "I skipped class so that I wouldn't have to learn things."

"There's more to it," Roderick repeated in a much sterner tone. "And it's nothing like a classroom, I can assure you of that." Roderick turned around and began walking off somewhere. "Follow me."

Wally looked to Garrick, who gave a nod of approval, and Wally began to follow the gorilla.

"Whatever you say, monkey-man."

Roderick immediately spun around and got two inches from Wally's face. "I am not a monkey, I am a proud gorilla, and I have a name. It's Roderick." He turned around and continued to walk his path. "Not 'monkey-man'!"

"Fine, 'Gorilla Roderick'. God, that's long. Mind if I shorten it?"

"Just Roderick will be fine."

"But that's boring and uncreative."

"You don't need to be creative. You just need to say my name."

"How about 'Gorrick'?"

"No."

"Rodrilla?"

"No."

"G-Rod?"

"Stop it or I will rip your arms off!"

Wally took that threat as seriously as possible, and kept quiet as they approached an ordinary wooden door that could only be seen as out of place in a temple such as this. Roderick opened the door and beckoned Wally to enter. The room was pitch black without the "natural" lighting of the library until Roderick lit a string of torches that showed Wally a simple room with intricate items. It was a circular room with a throne sculpted out of rock at his right and a ledge on the left with all sorts of metalworking and more specifically two helms that he could only just barely see in the light. By the time Wally thought to ask what this was for, Roderick had already climbed up onto the ledge and grabbed the two helms, kicking up a cloud of dust in his wake.

Roderick finally spoke up. "This is the reason your initiation is only taking three days and not three years."

"Eh? Three years?"

"Well that's how long it would have taken you to memorize all the knowledge and the basic workings of our organization." He traded one helm to his foot and climbed down from the ledge, making sure not to land on that foot. "But now, because of recommendation from myself and a few others, we're using an old technique that my kind used before we were assigned to this temple." Roderick offered Wally the foot-helm.

It was a bronze helm with all sorts of crazy lines etched into it connecting and encircling three green gems in the shape of a "V".

Wally took the helm. "But I thought Mercury created you to serve his cult."

Roderick put on the helm. "Yes and no. You see, Mercury did create us, but we were in the temple for years before his servants found us. Now put the helm on and sit down."

Wally finally put the headgear in his hand on and sat in the rocky chair. "So how many people have done this before?"

The gems on Roderick's helm began to glow. "You'll be the first."

WHAT?

But Wally didn't have time to object as a force began to flow through him that would change him forever.


	9. Class

The power flowing through Wally was intense, and stressing, without being painful. He instinctively closed his eyes, as if his body wanted him to concentrate on the feeling and not his surroundings. It surged and pulsated in no particular direction, making his heart beat so fast, it might as well have been popping out of his chest.

And then nothing.

There was no feeling here. No pulsating power. No stress. Nothing.

And then a slight breeze blew across his face.

"Are you quite ready to join me now?" a familiar voice asked.

Wally realized he still had his eyes closed, and decided that this would be as good a time as any to open them. He and Roderick were not in the temple anymore. It was a much more tranquil place, a large field that stretched to the horizon uninterrupted with tall grass and red daffodils. Roderick himself was standing more upright than Wally had ever seen before.

"Join you in what?"

"Conscious thought," Roderick responded. "That shouldn't be too hard now, hm?"

Wally shook his head. "Wait, wait, wait, where are we?"

Roderick took a few steps over to him. "My people called it the valley of Mercury. It is an area where our minds may mingle together without dangerously melding."

"So this is kind of like telepathy?"

Roderick sighed. "In only the most simplistic of terms."

"Alright, so how does this work? I mean, am I learning at a faster pace? Is all the lore going to be imprinted on my brain? Am I just going to be smarter?"

"You are going to be experiencing the events that we only have sparse records of." He turned around. "Quite a leg up, if I do say so myself." Roderick waved his arm and the land before them became sea, rushing underfoot, until a series of islands came into view. The horizon slowed and a single island in particular took up the landscape. "This is the Isle of Sovinos. This is where it all started."


End file.
